SAW

A Halloween-weekend staple for seven straight years, fans of horror, gore and suspense movies awaited the newest “Saw” movie. After six years, fans saw a new movie last year in “Jigsaw.” New characters were introduced as new traps, twists and accomplices were revealed. There hasn’t been any news on continuing the series but fans can always go back to watch where it all began.

The first of eight movies in the franchise was released on October 29, 2004. Compared to the future installments, the first Saw movie looks like an independent film. As with most Saw movies, there are a few different plots to follow along with, making them somewhat confusing for viewers.

The main plot features Adam, a photographer, and Lawrence Gordon, a doctor, chained in a grimy bathroom. In the room is a corpse with a pool of blood, a cassette tape (a staple in the franchise) and a revolver. Adam later finds two hacksaws in a bag in the toilet. The tape has a special message for each character on how to survive their trap.

The movie relies on a lot of flashbacks to give the characters a backstory and connect all of the characters in this crazy universe. During a Gordon flashback, we see Amanda Young for the first time. She is seen testifying and explaining how she escaped her trap, the infamous reverse bear trap.

The end of the movie sees Gordon saw off his foot and shoots Adam. Zep, another accomplice of Jigsaw, enters the bathroom to kill Gordon but fails. Adam, who only suffered a flesh would, bludgeons him to death with the toilet tank lid.

Gordon crawls out to find help. Adam searches Zep’s body and finds another cassette tape, revealing that Zep was a victim as well. As the tape plays, the corpse on the floor rises up and ends up being John Kramer, the Jigsaw Killer. He tells Adam the key to his escape was in the toilet and went down the drain when he woke up.

Adam attempts to shoot Kramer, but he is shocked. Jigsaw then shuts off the lights, and yells his infamous "Game Over", before sealing the door, leaving Adam to die.

The first Saw is one of my favorite in the series, but my favorite is Saw II. The movies get worse in acting and gore as they go on but the first few are really creative and make you think.

Viewers could see the ending a mile away but the journey to get there was still fun. These movies are labeled as “torture porn” but I disagree. Yes, there is a lot of unnecessary body dismemberment and blood but that’s the idea. How far will these people go to save their lives?

Are there some obvious lapse is basic logic in the writing? Yes. But the aftermath of trying to figure out the puzzle (no pun intended) of how these characters are connected makes these movies a Halloween classic.